


Advent Calendar

by torestoreamends



Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Advent Calendar, Fluff, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Compliant, M/M, Post-Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 16:03:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8720080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torestoreamends/pseuds/torestoreamends
Summary: Scorpius has no self-restraint when it comes to chocolate...





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the [HPCC Advent Calendar](http://hpcc-advent-calendar.tumblr.com/), and is based on the brilliant prompt 'Scorpius eating all his advent calendar chocolates on day one'. 
> 
> Beta’d by the lovely Abradystrix.

It's been one of those horrifically exhausting nearly-but-not-quite-the-holidays sorts of days. Albus is beginning to feel like he's completely drained of energy. His brain has run out of space. He wants to spend every day in bed, especially when frigid drafts rattle the windows and make the fires in the classrooms gutter. It doesn't help that the beautiful Christmas trees going up in the Great Hall make him long to go home and help his family decorate the tree in their front room, and the delicious smells wafting up from the kitchens make him desperately miss his dad's mince pies. The holidays really can't come soon enough. 

He drags himself away from his Transfiguration class and down to the dorm. His bag strap cuts into his shoulder as he stumps down the stairs into the icy dungeons. It's stuffed full with all the homework he has to do between now and the Christmas break. Apparently sixth years aren't allowed to slack off in the lead up to the holiday. There's far too much N.E.W.T. work to do for that. 

He shuffles his bag from shoulder to shoulder and scuffs his feet across the stone floor. The afternoon has been made all the worse by the sudden absence of Scorpius. It isn't like him not to show up to lessons; usually it would take kidnap or death to keep him away, and even then he might still come along if the subject is interesting enough. 

Albus had been expecting him in Transfiguration, had been relying on his help with Switching Spells. He'd almost been late because he'd waited for Scorpius outside the library after lunch. After twenty minutes he'd been forced to give up and run. He'd turned up at class out of breath, having sprinted along five corridors and up three flights of stairs, to discover that Scorpius hadn't show up there either. 

There had been no one to help with his spells, and no one to distract him when he got frustrated about not being able to do them. The lesson wasn't a complete fiasco, but it would have been an awful lot better with Scorpius there too. 

He trudges down the Slytherin corridor. If Scorpius is anywhere he'll be in the dorm, and there's a free period before dinner which Albus has no desire to spend alone. Normally he'd ask Scorpius to help him with work, but right now he's just ready to collapse on his bed and give up. Even climbing the stairs feels like too much with his heavy bag weighing him down. When he finally reaches the dorm, he shoves the door open and stumbles inside. 

The first thing he sees is a miserable huddle of black robes and white blond hair all curled up on his bed. Scorpius has always enjoyed falling asleep on Albus's bed, but he doesn't seem to be asleep this time. In fact, he looks very much awake, and in considerable discomfort. 

He looks awful, a pale, clammy, almost green colour. His hair is a ruffled mess. He's clutching his stomach and lying as still as he possibly can. The only movement he makes is to look up when Albus shuts the door and rushes across to him. 

"Scorpius?" Albus asks, dumping his bag on the floor. "Are you okay? You look awful. Do you need to go to the hospital wing?" 

Scorpius groans and shakes his head. "No... No, I'm fine. Just..." He rolls slowly onto his front and looks up at Albus. "I've made a terrible mistake." 

Albus kneels on the floor beside him, reaching up a slightly shaky hand to stroke his hair. "Did you have another reaction to one of the Skiving Snackboxes? I thought you didn't believe in skipping class anyway. You said the other day that-"

"Not a Snackbox," Scorpius says, going even greener just at the thought. "My advent calendar... Albus." He moans and buries his face in the mattress. 

"Was it poisoned?" Albus asks in alarm, half rising to his feet, ready to spring into action. "I have antidotes. I can find-"

Scorpius reaches out to catch his arm. "Not poisoned, but... I ate them. All of them. The chocolates." He gives another pitiful moan and hides his face again, hugging himself round the middle. 

Albus stops. "Wait," he says, his worry melting into incredulity. "You... You ate  _all_  the chocolates? In one go?" 

Scorpius gives a whimper that's apparently meant to be affirmation. 

Relief floods through Albus, and he bites his lip to keep himself from laughing. He's clearly not supposed to find his boyfriend's predicament funny, but right now it's a little hard not to. "That's twenty four days' worth of chocolates, Scorpius. No wonder you feel sick!" 

"Dad says I have no self-restraint," Scorpius says, picking mournfully at his blankets.

Albus can't help himself. He lets out a snort of laughter, then claps a hand to his mouth when Scorpius glares at him. "Sorry, but your dad is right." 

Scorpius turns away from Albus with a little huff. "You'd have eaten them too," he mutters. "They were those really good ones from Honeydukes."

"The ones with the popping candy?" 

Scorpius nods, and Albus sighs at the thought and sinks onto the bed beside him. 

"I certainly would have helped you eat them if I'd been here." 

"No you wouldn't," Scorpius says, looking round at him. "I wouldn't have let you." 

Albus laughs. "You made yourself feel sick and you don't even regret it?"

Scorpius sits up and curls in on himself, wincing, but he lifts his head and addresses Albus very seriously. "There's no time for regrets in this life, Albus. Especially not where chocolate is concerned. No, I'll just have to-" he swallows, pausing for a long moment and holding his mouth tight shut. "To deal with the consequences." 

Albus shuffles a few inches away down the bed, eyeing him warily. "If you throw up on my bed I'm never speaking to you again. In fact," he pokes Scorpius in the side, "go and be ill on your own bed."

Scorpius groans and bats his hand away. "You're going to kick me out? When I'm ill?" He shoots Albus an imploring look, eyes shining a beautiful, irresistible silver in the lamp light. "Do you not-"

"Fine!" Albus says, cutting across him. "Fine. But if you're staying-" He gets up and goes to his dresser, rummaging through the bottom drawer for his stash of potions. He rattles the bottles around, pulls out one full of bright red liquid, and throws it to Scorpius, who misses it completely. Thankfully it rolls onto the bed next to him instead of smashing on the floor. 

"What's this?" He asks, wriggling an inch or so closer to it, then stretching out for it, apparently still reluctant to move at all.

"Drink it," Albus says. "It'll settle your stomach." 

"Does it taste of-"

"It tastes of strawberry." He flops back onto the bed and looks expectantly at Scorpius, who is still regarding the potion with some suspicion. He uncorks it, sniffs it, swills it round, sticks his little finger in the liquid and licks a drop off, pulling a face. 

Albus sighs. "Scorpius, would I give you something bad?" 

"You made me drink Polyjuice once," Scorpius says, still inspecting the potion.

" _I_ didn't make you drink anything. You volunteered to come. And technically it was Delphi who-"

"Okay," Scorpius says, waving a hand to shut him up. "What about the time you gave me that horrible blue stuff?" 

A broad grin spreads across Albus's face. "That salty stuff from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes? That was a joke, Scorpius. Even you thought it was funny." He points at the potion bottle in Scorpius's hand. "This is serious. Why would I give you something to make you feel worse? I already told you I don't want you throwing up on my bed."

Scorpius gives him a dubious look. "I suppose I trust you..." He hesitates for a moment, then pinches his nose and tips his head back, downing the potion all in one go. 

Albus watches his expression. He seems to think for several seconds, smacking his lips and mulling over the taste. 

"That's..." He burps and shakes his head. "Pretty awful, Albus. It could be worse, but... Is that really meant to be strawberry?"

"Yes! I didn't think it was that bad..." 

Scorpius pulls a face. "Not that bad? It's horrific." He drags himself up the bed and flops down with his head on Albus's chest, one arm still folded protectively around his stomach. 

Albus ruffles a gentle hand through his hair. "You'll be grateful for it in ten minutes or so." 

Scorpius nods and snuggles in closer, closing his eyes. "Probably. You're quite brilliant. I wouldn't accept potions from just anyone, you know." 

A little buzz of warmth runs through Albus at the compliment, and he smiles and squeezes Scorpius in a tight hug. "Thank you." 

For a little while they lie there in companionable quiet. Albus can feel Scorpius's warmth, hear the slight snuffling of his breath that's the only remnant of a cold he'd had last week, smell the faint apple scent of his shampoo. He has no desire to move so much as an inch with Scorpius lying so close. Weighty and comforting. 

It's easy to forget about everything when they're together like this. All the stress and exhaustion, the mountain of homework, the impending doom of exams, the twinge of homesickness. It melts away, so all Albus has to think about is how soft Scorpius's hair is, how the little bit of pink coming back into his cheeks as the potion sets to work makes him look incredibly beautiful, how easy it would be to just lean down and kiss him. 

It feels like a small, peaceful eternity before Scorpius breaks the silence between them, but really it's only five minutes. He gives a soft sigh, wriggles onto his side and opens his eyes. Albus disentangles his hand from Scorpius's hair and gives him a smile.

"You look better already. I told you it would work."

Scorpius lifts his head off Albus's chest and looks up at him, a tiny frown creasing his forehead. "Do you think, if I said our dorm mates had stolen all my chocolates while I was in Charms, that Dad would send me another advent calendar?" 

Albus makes a strangled choking sound, halfway between amusement and utter disbelief. "You really are feeling better then?"

"Yes, thank you. That potion was wonderful." Scorpius props himself up on his elbows. "Really though, do you think-"

Albus also half sits up to look at him. "I think that you-", he taps Scorpius on the nose, "shouldn't lie to your dad. I also think you shouldn't be allowed any more chocolate. And before you ask, no, I'm not letting you share mine." 

Scorpius pouts, and Albus drops back onto the bed so he doesn't have to look at that pleading face which tugs so perfectly at his heart strings. 

"It's not advent without chocolates," Scorpius says, lying back down and wrapping an arm across Albus's stomach

"Well," Albus replies, stroking Scorpius's hair again. "Maybe you should have thought of that  _before_ you ate all yours." 

Scorpius sighs. "Well if you're going to be like that I'll just have to wait for Saturday. It's a Hogsmeade weekend. I'll just buy one while I'm there."

Albus shakes his head and tries to restrain a smile. "You're ridiculous, did you know that?" He looks down at Scorpius, who gives him an angelic smile. 

"You remind me often. I think you like it." 

The grin escapes Albus's control as he leans down and kisses Scorpius. "What gave you that impression?" 

Scorpius wriggles up the bed so he can rest his forehead against Albus's. "Just a hunch." 

They beam at each other across the inch of space between them, then Albus wraps his arms round Scorpius and drags him in for another kiss. 


End file.
